Intervention
by FullmetalVampire123
Summary: Bella and Edward get into an argument at the Cullen graduation party. Rosalie proposes a solution: Bella takes a break from men and dates her for a week. In the end, Bella makes her own choice. "It's so easy to fall in love but hard to find someone who will catch you." E/B/R, AU.
1. Prologue: Letting Your Hair Down

**Intervention**

**Prologue**

**Letting Your Hair Down**

**"Don't you ever let a soul in the world tell you that you can't be exactly who you are."**

Darkness was beginning to fall over the small town of Forks, Washington. Normally, on a warm, spring Friday such as this, the townspeople would be mulling about the streets, talking amiably and visiting local pubs and bars. Tonight, however, half the populace was nowhere to be found. Forks High School's graduation was tonight. Afterwards, the graduates had gone out to dinner with their families and had quietly slipped away afterwards to the famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) "White Mansion" for the Cullens' extravagant post-graduation party. It had been the main subject of conversation at FHS for the past week. The Cullens were a quiet bunch, but everyone knew that they were absolutely loaded. Rumor has it that if they weren't so secretive, they'd be topping off Forbes List every year. Everyone knew that this party was going to be the place to be on Friday night. If you didn't plan on showing up, there was something wrong with you.

Bella Swan was never a social butterfly, but even she had to admit that she was a little bit excited. Despite all her classmates (that she was glad to be rid of) that were going to be there, she was intent on having a wonderful time with her soon-to-be family. Her fiancé, Edward Cullen, was cheerily bopping his head up and down to the music playing on the radio as he drove them to his home. The trees on either side of the long Cullen driveway were wrapped in strings of rope lights.

"Alice's idea," Edward said, nodding towards the lights. "She's always been one for festivities."

When they got there, the party was already in full swing. Loud, upbeat music could be heard and the couple could see graduates dancing wildly through the large glass windows of the modern mansion. Edward opened the car door for Bella like a gentleman and did the same with the door to the house. The music increased in volume as they ascended the stairs. When they reached the second floor where the party was being held, the duo was immediately approached by Alice.

"Bella!" she exclaimed. The pixie-like vampire embraced her future sister. "We're glad that you two finally made it!"

"Nice to see you too, Alice," said Bella, laughing a little.

"Help yourselves to any refreshments!"

Alice waved and drifted off into the crowd, rejoining the crazed dancing. Bella and Edward made their way to the punch bowl. Edward sniffed the red liquid.

"The party's only been going for forty minutes and someone's already spiked the punch," he said dryly.

"Awesome," said Bella, pouring herself a cup.

"You're going to drink it?" he asked incredulously.

"It's not like I've never drank before. I used to every now and then back in Phoenix." She took a sip and swished the liquid around in her mouth. "Hm, Jack Daniels."

Edward looked at her distastefully. "Carlisle is going to kill me for letting you drink that."

"Shouldn't he be mad at me? I'm the one who willfully drank it."

The bronze-haired immortal just shrugged and looked off into the crowd. Bella sighed.

"So, Mr. Mind-Reader, who spiked it?" she asked.

He closed his eyes in concentration, scouring the thoughts of the crowd. "Mike," he finally said. "I'm not surprised."

"I think I taste vodka too…" she said, looking down into her cup. Nevertheless, she downed the entire thing and poured another one. While she was busy intoxicating herself, Rosalie had made her way over to the two of them. She grinned devilishly and took the ladle from Bella, pouring her own cup. This surprised the brunette, who was now slightly buzzed, and she jumped slightly.

"Rosalie!" she gasped, almost scared. "You're… drinking?"

"Alcohol does its own things to vampires," the beautiful vampiress explained. "You want some, Eddie?"

Her brother just scowled at her and shook his head. Rosalie shrugged and said, "Oh well. More for me."

With that, she turned and began to walk towards Alice. The crowd parted for her like the Red Sea did for Moses. She had no trouble reaching her destination where she began to dance with her sister. Bella turned to look at her fiancé.

"What's the matter with you tonight? You're acting like a real buzzkill. You said you wanted me to have human experiences before I was changed, right?"

"Not this kind!" he hissed.

"Did you think I was some kind of goody-two-shoes or something?"

He bit his lip. "Well, yeah! I mean, that's what you've always acted like!"

"Newsflash: I'm not perfect, Edward! I was quiet and awkward when I showed up here because I was nervous. That doesn't mean I'm uptight and prude like you are! I thought you loved me for _me_, not how I acted!"

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose and started to grind his teeth. Frustrated, Bella downed the rest of her punch and tossed the crumpled up cup at him before stomping off into the crowd after his sisters. When she arrived, they were both looking at her sympathetically.

"Sorry about that, Bella. He can be a real douche sometimes," said Alice.

"Whatever. I could care less about him right now."

The brunette human began to dance with the two vampires. The blonde sister smiled.

"I like Bella when she lets loose! You're fun now," she purred.

It was at this moment when the DJ decided it was time for the party to take a turning point. "Take It Off" by Ke$ha began to blast out of the speakers. Hearing the message of the song, most of the partygoers started to shed their clothes (except for Edward, who was still standing angrily by the punch bowl, glaring into the crowd). Rosalie and Alice managed to coerce Bella out of her shirt, leaving her in her revealing tank top. Knowing no boundaries, both Cullen girls discarded theirs as well, and, true to her nature, the taller of the two wasn't even wearing a tank top underneath.

"How about we give these boys a show?" Rosalie whispered to Bella.

Bella wished that she didn't know what that meant, but she did and, surprisingly, she had no objections. The spiked punch had erased all sobrieties from her. It had been a long time since she'd had alcohol and it showed in her low tolerance for it.

Still moving to the music, the blonde and the brunette closed the distance between their bodies. They fit together like puzzle pieces, dancing and writhing rhythmically against each other. Slowly, the attention of the male populace was turning towards them. Half of the boys' attentions were turned to them when Rosalie began to tug off Bella's tank top. Bella had gone into a serious workout regimen while the Cullens were gone and it showed in her smoothly muscular figure. The vampire wrapped her arms around the human girl's waist and leaned in. Their lips were mere centimeters apart. Finally, it was Bella who closed the gap, pushing her lips against Rose's. At this point, every man on the premises was fully engaged in the actions of the two girls, including Emmett. Alice watched them knowingly. Every now and then the two girls would break apart so Bella could breathe, but they would resume immediately. It got so heated that Bella was grinding up against Rosalie. Eventually, Rosalie hoisted the brunette up and wrapped the girl's legs around her waist. Bella's fingers were entangled in her beautiful golden locks. After a moment, the blonde sat her down and wedged her right leg between Bella's thighs, which prompted the human to moan loudly.

Edward, who had been throwing a silent temper tantrum, was finally fed up with his fiancé's behavior. He marched upstairs, fully intent on sharing his rage with his adoptive parents. Though already whiter than a sheet, Alice seemed to pale even more. Edward seemed too tied up in his own fury to notice that their adoptive parents were going at it like rabbits upstairs. It was not until he threw open the door and screamed in the manner of a small girl that he figured it out. He flew back downstairs and tried to exit through the front door only to run into several members of the Quileute wolf pack, including Jacob Black.

**xXx**

"… and so we'll work together to fight this Victoria," finished Jacob.

The rest of the Cullen family was sitting awkwardly upstairs in Carlisle's office while the party still raged on below them. The Quileute boys were standing around the room near the door while the majority of the Cullens were sitting aside from Edward, who was standing as far away from Bella and Rosalie as possible, glaring at the duo. They were sitting on the couch, Rosalie with her arm slung protectively over Bella's shoulders. Bella herself was sipping on a cup of coffee, slowly regaining her sobriety.

"Um, are you two angry at each other?" Jacob finally asked.

"Yes. We're having a bit of an argument," the redheaded vampire answered coldly.

"Edward here doesn't want me to let loose and have fun tonight," Bella explained, a dark tone to her voice.

"Aw, really? I like it when she lets loose," said the werewolf, grinning.

"Shut up, mutt," growled Rosalie.

Carlisle and Esme would have reprimanded their children for misbehaving by now, but they didn't feel like they were in the proper position to do it; both of them were awfully disheveled and had bad cases of sex hair. Esme's lipstick was smeared all over her husband's face. They both sat quietly and said nothing about the altercation going on in front of them.

"Edward, I don't know how many chances I've given you!" said Bella. "You've wasted all of my patience! You control everything I do and I'm about fed up with it!"

"And what do you do about it? You go off and make out with my sister in front of half the town!"

"She what?" exclaimed Jacob.

"FYI: I have no problems with that. You two do whatever you want," interjected Emmett, who was sitting with several pillows in his lap, staring intently at his wife and Bella. Rosalie simply rolled her eyes at her sex-obsessed husband.

"Look, Edward-"

"No, you look, Bella-"

"Both of you, SHUT UP!"

The two immediately froze at the sound of Rosalie's voice. She cleared her throat and began to speak.

"I have a proposition to make. I can tell that Bella here is very obviously bi-curious."

At that, Bella turned beet red.

"She needs some time to make up her mind about things before she runs into a marriage that might turn out unsatisfying to her. I propose that she spends one week with me. At the end of the week, she can make her _own _decision."

The room was silent. Edward opened his mouth to protest, but Bella cut him off.

"I agree with Rose. It's probably a good idea."

"Are you saying that you're _confused _about your _sexuality_?" he growled.

"Is that such a problem?" she hissed back.

"Well, you should have thought about it before you agreed to _marry me_!"

"I don't really remembered _agreeing_. It was more like you forced me into it!"

"Children!" Carlisle finally spoke up. "That is _enough_! Rosalie's proposition stands." He stood up and walked towards the door with Esme in tow. "Jacob, please tell Sam that I look forward to speaking with him. You are welcome to enjoy the party downstairs if you like. Goodnight."

With that, the patriarch was gone. Bella yawned, obviously tired from a stressful night.

"I think it's time for you to go to bed," said Rosalie, helping her up. "C'mon; you can stay in my room. Alice, you take her, okay? I have to talk to Emmett."

The pixie nodded and helped Bella downstairs. The pack headed downstairs for some drinks and Edward walked down as well, glaring at his sister the whole way. Rosalie approached her husband.

"You're not mad about this, are you babe?" she asked him.

"No. In fact, I'm happy for you."

"Do you think she'll stay with Edward?"

The largest Cullen shook his head. "After what happened tonight? She's opened her eyes, Rosie. Edward isn't the Adonis he's cut out to be. When this all works out in your favor, I'll have the divorce papers ready for you. If it doesn't, I'll be yours forever."

The blonde smiled.

"Thank you, Emmett."

**xXx**

After Alice had helped Bella into her spare pajamas (which were simply basketball shorts and a wife beater), she left her alone in Rosalie and Emmett's room. The human hadn't been in here before and was taking the extra time to look around. It was darker than the rest of the house, painted up in purples. The bed was circular and unmade, with silky crimson sheets and a white bedspread with an intricate black design. A dresser, with several drawers opened, sat by the door. Atop it sat a mirror and hundreds of makeup products that Bella had never heard hide nor hair of. Tired, the human girl sat down on the bed

Rosalie entered moments later, now dressed in loose shorts and a sports bra. She smiled softly at Bella.

"Rose, this is going to sound really rude, but… I thought you hated me," said Bella. Obviously, the alcohol hadn't fully worn off yet because she never would have said that sober.

"Oh, Bella," began Rose. "I don't hate you. I disagree with the decisions you make, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop you from making them. In all honesty, I was trying to be meant to you so you would forget about us and immortality."

_And leave my brother, _she thought, and paused to glance in the mirror.

"I see that isn't going to happen. You're too hung up on the idea. I'm not going to try to fight you anymore. You should hear my side of the story, though."

"Go ahead," said Bella. "I'm too jacked up on coffee to sleep right away."

The blonde vampiress smiled. "I was born in 1915 in Rochester, New York. My family was well-off throughout the Great Depression. They raised me to be vain and conceited, and to get a man who would raise their social status. I was beautiful even then, so it was no wonder that Royce King II took an interest in me. His father owned the bank that my father worked at, much to my parents' delight. We were quickly engaged."

She stopped for a moment to look at Bella, who was deeply invested in the story.

"I was walking home from my friend Vera's place. Vera married a man who wasn't necessarily rich, but he loved her and cared for her. They had a small child at that point, Henry, and they loved him dearly. I often spent my nights there playing with him. That was what I began to want; I loving husband and children of my own."

The brunette nodded understandingly.

"As I said, I was walking home. It was late at night, but it was a short walk so I thought I had no need for an escort. As I walked, I happened to see several drunken men on the sidewalk. One of them was Royce, and he called me over. None the wiser, I went over to them. He began to brag about my beauty to them. One of them said something along the lines of 'Well, we can't see her when she's all covered up like that!' so he started to rip my clothes off. They beat me and each of them took a turn with me, and then left me to die in the street. Carlisle found me and bit me."

Bella gasped. "That's… That's terrible, Rose. I had no idea."

"It's okay," said Rosalie. "Not long after I was turned, I killed them. I left Royce for last. He was so paranoid; he had locked himself in a windowless room with several guards; no match for me, of course. I was wearing my wedding dress, stained with the blood of his sick friends. He died painfully."

Hoping that she hadn't completely traumatized the girl, Rosalie's head whipped up and stared intently at Bella. The brunette seemed a little shaken, but more tired than anything. Rosalie clambered over to her and kissed her forehead.

"Go to sleep, Bella. I can see that you're struggling to stay awake."

"Promise me that you won't leave," said the human.

"I promise."

Rosalie snaked her arms around her. Bella leaned her head into the crook of the vampire's neck and slept soundly.


	2. Chapter 1: Making Your Own Choices

**Intervention**

**Chapter 1**

**Making Your Own Choices**

"**There are two kinds of sparks, the one that goes off with a hitch like a match, but it burns quickly. The other is the kind that needs time, but when the flame strikes... it's eternal, don't forget that.****"**

When Bella woke up, she immediately reached to the right side of the bed, and her heart skipped when she found it empty. Thankfully, within no more than ten seconds, Rosalie entered the room with a steaming cup of coffee. The brunette let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry if I scared you! I was just going downstairs to get this for you. When I got back upstairs I was planning on waking you up, but it looks like you beat me to it," Rosalie explained.

"I was beginning to think that last night was a dream."

"Well, it wasn't."

Rose handed the mug to her and sat down beside her. She sipped on it for a moment before looking up at her vampire caretaker. The blonde smiled at Bella and stood up. Her golden locks were quite tangled from the events of the previous night, so she grabbed a brush off of her dresser and began to fix it. The brunette simply sat and watched her, sipping on the hot drink. After spending quite a bit of time with the Cullens, Bella had noticed how much effort Rosalie put into her appearance. The only reason that it stood out in Bella's mind was simply because the blonde didn't _need _to do anything. If Rose simply got up in the morning, brushed her hair, and threw on some average clothes, she would still look absolutely stunning. Despite all this, the vampire still went to extreme lengths to keep up her already sky-high appearance. Even after all this time, it baffled Bella to no end.

"So, what do you want to do today?"

The sudden question snapped Bella out of her contemplative trance. The words themselves brought her back to reality, but the proposition itself was foreign to her.

"What do _I _want to do?" she repeated.

"Yes, _you_," Rosalie responded.

The human girl seemed to sit there, thinking deeply over the answer. This confused Rosalie until Bella finally responded.

"I'm not really used to making that kind of decision. Edward usually had it all planned out for us."

_Was he so controlling that he never let her make __**any **__decisions? _Rose wondered.

"Bella, we are going to fix you," she said, determined. "What do _you_ want to do today? And I will be honest with you: I do not care. We will do whatever you want to do. I don't care if you want to go to Kroger and stand in the dairy section for two hours looking at milk."

"Why would I want to do that?"

"I don't know!" she exclaimed, exasperated. "Look, you have the freedom to drag me wherever you fancy today; just pick something already!"

She dramatically threw her hands up in the air and fell backwards on the bed. Bella laughed a little and sat her coffee down on the nightstand. She thought about what she would like to do. Nothing immediately occurred to her. She did remember that she had been wanting to take a trip to the mall without Alice shoving her into every clothing store along the way.

"How about the mall? I've been trying to go without Alice for a while now."

Down the hall, a pained wail was emitted from the world's largest walk-in closet.

"Sounds like a plan. Better get some breakfast in you first, though."

Rosalie stood up and motioned for Bella to follow her downstairs. The brunette fumbled out of the sheets and grabbed her coffee mug before exiting the room.

The Cullen house was a great achievement in architecture; it was home to a garage, a basement, four floors, and a small tower that had a beautiful view of the surrounding area. The first floor was a small, homey area with a den and a kitchen, while the second was home to the main kitchen and living room. It was more modern in design, and the walls were mostly glass. The third floor was a small hallway that led off into all of the siblings' rooms. Bella could remember spending many a night in the hallway, with all of Edward's siblings sitting the doorways of their rooms. Edward's was the first on the left, just off of the stairs. The next on the left was Alice and Jasper's room, a large, bright space that was dedicated to military antiques and clothing. The first room on the right was between Edward and Alice's doors, and it was Emmett and Rosalie's room. The last room, also on the right, was a modest guest room that was often unused. At the end of the hallway, a set of stairs led up to a trapdoor to Carlisle and Esme's room. This fourth floor was also home to Carlisle's office and library. In the library, a spiral staircase led up to the tower. The tower was based around a circular design. In the center, the large cylindrical base held a set of bunk beds, extra storage, and a large LCD flat screen TV. The interior wrapped around it, holding a small living area and a bar. There were no walls; windows were on every side, with doors leading out onto the 360 degree balcony.

Bella stepped out into the tight hallway, bracing herself on the doorframe. When she was confident in her balance, she followed Rosalie down the hall and the stairs. The staircase was very tight as well, which Bella often considered a blessing because it was harder to fall down. She steadied herself on the railing as she made her way down. The kitchen was on her immediate right, and she could smell cinnamon. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw Esme cooking.

"Good morning, Bella!"

She was glad that Esme was in… better shape this morning. The human girl didn't think she could take seeing her mother figure disheveled like that in a sober state. The caramel-haired vampire sat a plate of delicious, gooey cinnamon rolls down on the kitchen counter. Bella nodded thanks and dug in. Rosalie absentmindedly watched her eat and sat down on the barstool next to her, swinging her legs back and forth. When she was done, Bella thanked Esme again.

"Rose, can we stop by my house before we leave? I kind of want my own clothes."

"No problem. Let me go get dressed really quick."

The vampiress disappeared in a flash and was back quicker than she left, dressed in short denim shorts and a plaid shirt that was tied above her midriff. It was probably the most casual outfit that Bella had ever seen her wear, but it still looked stunning on her. Such were the gifts of being a vampire. Rosalie was also wearing some modest earrings and a pair of flip flops.

"I can see that you've noticed that I'm trying to not be ridiculously showy."

The brunette nodded. "Let's get going. I kind of want to get dressed too."

Bella slipped on the pair of Converse that she'd had on the night before. Rosalie had been kind enough to bring down her clothes from last night. Even her shirt had been recovered. She pulled it on over her wife beater and headed out.

It had been a long time since Bella's rear end had graced the leather seats of Rosalie's BMW M3. The last time was a rush trip to McDonald's during one of Alice's shopping sprees. Alice had stopped to raid a Macy's and Bella was absolutely dying of hunger. Since the smaller sister was indisposed, Rosalie had to run the human to the nearest fast food joint in the other car, which just happened to be her BMW. The blonde vampire stormed into the McDonald's, shoved her way to the front of the line and demanded cheeseburgers for poor little Bella, who was about to pass out. She consumed two McDoubles, a 10 piece box of McNuggets, and a large Oreo McFlurry. Rose bought her a large mocha frappe as well, ensuring that the girl would stay awake until the sisters got her back home. They ended up riding home with a human jacked up on caffeine that was never satisfied with what was playing on the radio. Bella had apologized profusely to Rosalie afterwards for all the trouble.

Now, she sat in the passenger's seat again, but this time she wasn't starving. The trip to her house was silent, and Bella was left to contemplate her current situation. It was true; Edward was very controlling and a general asshole sometimes. She had been so obsessed that she was unable to see it before. He had his flaws, but he was also capable of being a good person at times. Rosalie, on the other hand, had treated her like dirt ever since she met her, but Bella understood why now. She had a great bit of sympathy for the immortal goddess beside her. The human took this time to examine her.

Whereas Edward would have been flying down the road at unacceptable speeds, Rose was driving just a tad bit above the speed limit, which didn't bother Bella one bit. So far, she had treated her fifty times better than her fiancé ever had, and she'd only been awake for half an hour. She'd even let her decide what they were going to do today. It left her feeling like she had control over the situation.

They reached the quaint Swan residence quickly, but not so quick that is was ridiculous. Rosalie opened the car door for her like a gentlewoman.

"Charlie!" called Bella as she entered the house. "I'm home!"

The scruffy police chief shuffled out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his right hand. "Hey, Bella. Where's Edward?"

"You won't be seeing him around for at least a week, Chief Swan," said Rose, who had walked in behind Bella.

"Good," he grumbled.

"Dad, Rose and I are going up to the mall today. I'll be home sometime this evening, okay?"

"Alright, you two have fun."

Rosalie waited patiently in the foyer while Bella ran upstairs to change.

"So… If you don't mind me asking, what happened with her and Edward?" asked Charlie.

"They got into a bit of an argument at the party last night. They decided to take a weeklong break." She left out the part about her and Bella.

"If you ask me, they needed one."

"I fully agree, Chief Swan."

"Please, call me Charlie."

Rosalie smiled as he wandered into the living room and flopped down on the couch.

"I'm ready!"

It was probably a bad idea for Bella to come bounding down the stairs, but she did anyways. As she reached the last step, she, of course, tripped, and she seemed to fall in slow motion, her face lighting up red like a Christmas tree. Rosalie was prepared for this, and she stepped forward, catching the girl in her arms. Bella's face landed in the blonde's cleavage, and her face turned even redder. Rosalie righted the flustered girl and smirked at her.

"Let's roll, Bella."

Still red in the face, Bella followed the vampire outside, stopping for a brief moment to tell her father goodbye. She was now properly dressed in a pair of jeans that were ripped at the knees, a pair of Vans, a light grey Joan Jett t-shirt, a leather half-jacket, and a backwards military cap. The brunette hopped into the car and they were off.

They listened to the radio for half of the trip. Rosalie was quiet. She needed to tell Bella something important, and she was planning her words carefully. The vampiress watched the girl, tapping her feet absentmindedly and staring out the window. The wet, green Washington scenery was flying by them as they sped down the curvy back roads. She seemed to be totally absorbed in it; then again, listening to Florence + The Machine and driving through Washington had the capability to make you feel like you were in some strange, fantasy world. As Bella had once described it before, Forks was like an alien planet. The scenery was lush and vibrant, full of life and mystery. It was because of this mystical feeling that Rosalie liked the Olympic Peninsula so much.

"Bella?"

"Hm?" The brunette turned her attention away from the window and towards her escort.

"I've been thinking about how to tell you this for a while, but… Edward… He's not…" She shook her head. "He's not your true mate. See, when a vampire meets their true mate, they are completely unable to be away from them for an extended amount of time without suffering painfully. When Edward left you, not only was he able to lie to you, he was barely affected by the separation at all. In fact, I'd say that the rest of us were more upset about it than he was."

Bella looked down at her lap. "I'm not trying to argue with you over this, but didn't he try to kill himself when he thought I was dead?"

Rosalie bit her lip. "Bella…" She trailed off. She didn't want to say it. She didn't want to ruin the girl's perception of him, even if he was a jerk. "He did that because he knew you'd come running back to him. He was toying with you."

Bella's face paled as she clenched her fists. Rosalie could hear the girl's teeth grinding together. Since she didn't know what to say in this situation, she just kept her eyes on the road and mumbled "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Bella hissed. "The things I'll do to him… Does he know what kind of torture he put me through? Does he know how horrible it was for me? I was lucky that Jacob snapped me out of it. I took out my frustration on the Y's punching bags. Even so, I'm starting to see him for what he is now. How do you know all of this?"

"He used to laugh to himself about it when he thought no one was around. I happened to overhear him a few times. It sickened me."

"I bet." Bella tugged the back of her cap down from where the headrest had pushed it up. "Okay, now that's all said and done, let's enjoy a little shopping trip, alright?"

"Alright," Rose responded, grinning. She turned into the mall parking lot and scoured the area for an empty space. After she had parked as close as she could, the two entered the mall.

Rosalie wasn't surprised when their first stop was the bookstore. She knew that Bella was a bit of a bookworm. She watched Bella thumb through the titles carefully. Every now and then she'd pull one out, read the dust jacket, and then slide it back into its place. Although Rosalie wasn't much of a reader, she did pick up a book every now and then. In an attempt to stop creeping on Bella, she tried to look through the "Paranormal Romance" section, but ended up laughing her ass off at all the ridiculous vampire love stories. _If only they knew… _she thought. She was about to read the back of a thick black book labeled "Twilight" when Bella tapped on her shoulder.

"I'm ready."

In her arms, Bella had several thick novels, including but not limited to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit, a few collections of H.P. Lovecraft's work, and the last book of the Inheritance Cycle.

"That's a lot of fantasy," observed the vampire.

"I've decided to take a break from my old romance novels. One can only read 'Wuthering Heights' so many times. I never really read much fantasy, but after watching your brothers play Skyrim so much, I've wanted a taste of it. Of course, in literature format."

While checking out, the clerk expressed an interest in fantasy novels as well and recommended a few others to her. She said that she would look into them the next time she came back.

"Where to next?" asked Rosalie. The stunning blonde was been turned down when she offered to pay for the books, so she ended up carrying them for Bella instead. Now, they were standing in the middle of the mall, contemplating their next stop.

"I'd like to stop by the music store-"

Bella's thought was interrupted by an obnoxious wolf whistle from across the mall. Rosalie recognized the source of it as a group of boys that had been at the party last night. She scowled in their general direction.

"Men," she huffed.

Bella giggled a little, eliciting a confused reaction from Rose, which only prompted the clumsy human to laugh more. The blonde shook her head. "Alright, let's get you to the record store."

"They don't sell records anymore," Bella teased.

Rosalie would have blushed if she could, but she kept a stern face and dragged her companion over to the escalator.

The music store did, in fact, have a few records, so Rosalie triumphed when she found them and waved one at Bella. "Well, it's not called a _record _store anymore," Bella defended. Intrigued, the teen began to look through them. She jumped with joy when she discovered what she considered to be a hidden gem: an old Runaways record. Rosalie plucked it out of the girl's fingers and looked at the price sticker.

"I am definitely paying for this."

"What if I don't want it?"

Rosalie shot her a knowing glance. "You do. I'm getting it for you. And those other ones that you have your eyes on." She motioned to a few Rolling Stones and Blackhearts records that Bella was eyeing.

The human huffed in frustration. "Fine."

Bella realized that she would have never given in that easily if it was Edward trying to buy her something. Of course, the things he tried to buy her were things she didn't want and had no use for. They were usually ridiculously expensive and unnecessary. _Was he trying to buy my love?_

Rosalie put the records on one of her many credit cards. After the purchase was made, Bella's stomach growled loudly.

"How about I treat you to a romantic lunch?"

**xXx**

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind."

Rosalie was sitting across from Bella, who was gorging herself on food from several different fast food joints in the food court.

"You asked me what I wanted," said Bella through a mouthful of meatball sub.

After Edward left, Jacob found Bella weak and underweight. He quickly put her on a carb-heavy diet and made her hit the gym. Bella found it to be stress relieving and kept a steady workout regimen at the local YMCA. However, the strenuous exercise left her as a very hungry girl. She'd gone from barely touching her food to eating everything in sight and more. It didn't disrupt her figure, though, much to Rosalie's delight. Bella had turned into a muscular and curvaceous teen. It was a thing to be admired.

During their lunch break, they were pestered by several other guys from the party who had all witnessed the hot and heavy make-out session. All of them obviously assumed that the two were on some kind of date, which was half true. Rosalie considered it to be one; she wasn't sure about what Bella thought.

The hungry human finished up the meal with a large Reese's Blizzard from Dairy Queen. She started off eating it rather fast and ended up with a bad brain freeze more than once.

"Eat slower," scolded the blonde.

"But it's so good!"

"Fine. Make yourself suffer."

Rosalie was still carrying the bags from the bookstore, but Bella had the bag with the records. Rosalie had been concocting a plan during Bella's food inhalation. When Bella stood up, she would immediately go to the side of her opposite from the hand carrying the bag. Then, Rosalie would switch her bags over to the hand opposite Bella and sneak in a little hand holding. The ploy worked, but Rose was unsure if she should fully go through with it. After all, they were walking along in public, and this would only further the already bad rumors that were spreading. In the end, love triumphed over worry. The vampire slipped her cold hand into Bella's warm one, causing the human to emit a small squeak of surprise. She didn't fight it, though, and instead intertwined her fingers with Rose's. Though the two did not look at each other, they were both smiling like idiots.

**xXx**

When all was said and done, Rosalie had managed to drag Bella into a few clothing stores, but she never forced her to try on anything she wouldn't like or to spend too much time in them. Bella had a masculine air about her; the vampire found it quite attractive at times. She tried to compliment that by buying her clothes that weren't too girly. Everything was approved by Bella (who still protested vehemently when it came to letting Rosalie pay) before it was bought.

Now, they were riding home listening to the radio as they had on the way there. Bella was once again entranced with the scenery. This time, however, Rosalie was not stressing out over talking to the girl. She simply kept her eyes on the road and glanced at the human beauty every few minutes.

At the Swan house, Rosalie helped the brunette carry her bags up to her room. Charlie asked her about college (which was where the populace of Forks thought she, Jasper, and Emmett had been for the past few months when in reality they had never left) so she was forced to make up some vague responses to his generic questions. She was asked to stay for dinner, but turned down the invite, saying that Esme was preparing a large dinner for them at home. Bella followed her outside to her car.

"Thank you for taking me out today, Rose."

"It was my pleasure," the blonde vampire responded.

Bella's face began to turn a pale shade of red, which confused Rosalie until the brunette gave her a quick kiss on the lips and bounded up into the house, slamming the door shut after yelling "Have a good night!" Rosalie smiled and got into her car. Bella had all the charm of a lovesick boy, and it was adorable.

As Rosalie drove home, Bella sat cross-legged on her bed, hyperventilating and only able to think one thing: _I just kissed Rosalie Hale._

**xXx**

As soon as Rosalie stepped inside, she was face to face with her fiery redheaded brother.

"She _kissed you_," hissed Edward.

"Of her own volition, yes."

"No, no. You did something to her."

"Edward, you read minds. You know I didn't do anything."

He shook his head. "You had to have done something. She kissed _you_. That's just sick."

Rosalie narrowed her eyes at him.

"What about Emmett?" he asked.

"Why are you asking me questions that you already know the answer to? Are you in denial? You of all people should know that we have an understanding," she said. "What are you going to do if this turns out in my favor?"

"Let's just say that I'd rather her be with Jacob Black than you," he growled.

"You knew this was going to happen!" she accused. "You knew she was my true mate! From the first moment we saw her you knew! So you seduced her! You started to play your sick game with her!"

"She's mine!" he yelled.

"ENOUGH!" The two quarreling siblings looked up at the top of the staircase to see Carlisle descending. "This is foolish."

Carlisle did not speak in a fatherly tone. He was using something akin to Sam Uley's "Alpha Voice". At the end of the day, this was a coven of vampires and he was the leader.

"You two should know better than this. Rosalie's proposition stands. Edward, you will not interfere."

"She fell in love with me first!" he whined.

"But you didn't fall in love with her!" boomed Carlisle.

Edward hissed and flitted out the sliding glass door and into the woods. The two followed him, but stopped on the patio. Carlisle sighed and shook his head. Rosalie watched her brother disappear until she could no longer see him.

"I'm sorry, Rose. If I had known what he was doing sooner, I would have stopped him."

"Don't be. You couldn't have known. Besides, he needs to learn that he can't have everything he wants. He's got to grow up sooner or later; why not now?"

The blond patriarch looked down. "Somehow, this all leads back to me. I remember changing you because I intended for you and him to be mates." He laughed darkly. "Oh, how ironic that is now. I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you, Rosalie."

Rosalie wrapped her arms around him. "I forgive you."

When the embrace was done, he stepped back and looked up to the stars.

"Win her over, Rose. She belongs with us, and with you, but not him."

"I will…" She paused and looked to the sky as well. "… dad."

With a gust of wind she was gone, and Carlisle Cullen was left standing alone, smiling to himself.


	3. Chapter 2: Becoming Yourself Again

**Intervention**

**Chapter 2**

**Becoming Yourself Again**

"**The easiest thing to be in the world is you. The most difficult thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don't let them put you in that position."**

"Thirty seven… Thirty eight… Thirty nine… Forty!"

Bella dropped from the pull-up bar to the floor of the weight room with a heavy thud. She rose and took a moment to shake out her arms and stretch before moving on to crunches. After she felt loose enough, she was surprised to see Rosalie in the doorway. The brunette grinned a little and picked up a set of dumbbells as she walked over.

"You come here often?"

The vampire laughed quietly. "They barely let me in here because I didn't have a card. I told them it was urgent, though."

"Yes, because I am a complete emergency. I'm that irresistible," Bella joked, now doing curls with the dumbbells.

"I'm not disagreeing." Rose looked at her with sultry bedroom eyes. "Anyways, I do have a reason for my impromptu visit; I'm taking you to dinner."

As if on cue, the human girl's stomach emitted a loud growl. Bella grinned sheepishly and laid the dumbbells back down on the rack. "Let me take a shower and I'll be right with you. No wonder Alice stuck those upscale casual clothes in my duffel bag. She knew you were planning this."

Rosalie waited patiently in the downstairs lobby. Bella didn't take long, but she walked out looking fresh and clean. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore dark jeans, a white v-neck, and a black blazer. To top it all off, she donned a pair of grey kicks which looked to be brand new –most likely Alice's doing.

In the manner of a true gentlewoman, Bella offered Rosalie her arm and escorted her up the staircase and out of the Y. Since Charlie had dropped her off on his way to work, she had planned to jog home, but now she had a ride with Rose. Still trying to be classy, she opened the driver side door for the blonde and let herself into the passenger's seat.

After her "date" yesterday, Bella was making herself take the initiative. She was forcing herself out of the shy, quiet hole that she had dug herself into upon her arrival in Forks. Although she was never an extrovert, in Phoenix she'd had friends and was actually moderately social. However, when she moved to Forks, she had let herself fall out of the social spectrum. She met Edward and then adopted his family's custom of keeping to themselves. Although she still kept up relationships with her peers, they weren't anything impressive. The only exception to her dying social life was Jacob, and since he turned out to be a mythical creature as well, she stopped counting him.

So, Bella was taking this weeklong break as a chance to restore her self-confidence.

As Rosalie started the car and began to drive towards their unknown restaurant destination, Bella began to think. She wondered about how this "intervention" was going to affect her. Would she go back to Edward? Rosalie had told her of the wrongs he had done. She had said that he was just toying with her. Bella believed this, but there was still a small part of her saying "Hey, this is Rosalie. She could just be lying." For some reason, this small part was almost always ignored, but it still planted the seed of doubt, whether Bella liked it or not. Her thoughts then strayed from the bronze-haired Adonis to the golden Aphrodite sitting beside her. Rosalie had done nothing but good for Bella so far, and she was starting to grow on the brunette. A spark had been lit inside her and it wasn't going out anytime soon, and, this time, Bella seemed to be encouraging it.

Bella was far from homophobic; in fact, in Phoenix, she had many gay friends. She'd even made out with girls a couple times (something that Edward not aware of). Despite this, she had never actually thought that she swung that way. It was just something that happened on the side. She rarely every took it seriously, and it's not like Renee would have cared if she had known (which she didn't). Although, she never had a boyfriend before Edward. She had hung out with guys, but she never seemed interested in them. She'd been a tomboy since she was little. Now it seemed like all the puzzle pieces were falling together for Bella. Everything just clicked, all at once.

Meanwhile, Rosalie was wondering why the human girl had a look of extreme shock and discovery plastered across her face. _Did she leave the oven on?_

_Well, _thought Bella. _I guess I can say goodbye to Edward. Wait, no. He needs a taste of his own medicine! I'll lead him on, play games with him like he did with me. Yeah! Ooh, Bella, you're so devious! In the meantime, I'll focus on Rose._

Now the blonde was even more confused as Bella donned a mischievous grin. There was a plotting gleam in the brunette's eye; Rose wanted to ask, but she decided to let it slide. She was sure that she would find out eventually.

The surprise destination was simply the Forks Applebee's, but it _was _an upgrade from the diner. Bella was getting tired of diner burgers every week with Charlie.

"I know it's not much, but Forks only has so much to offer. I thought you'd be too tired to head up to Port Angeles, so…"

"Its fine," said Bella, cutting her off. "They have great mozzarella sticks."

They were seated in a booth on the side next to a window with a view of the rainy landscape of Forks. Bella quickly asked for two orders of mozzarella sticks and Pepsi. Rose asked only for a glass of water.

They talked about everything from workouts to books. Bella's appetizer came, and she eagerly devoured a whole basket of mozzarella sticks before slowing down on the second. The vampire chuckled at the spectacle.

When the waiter finally returned to take their orders, he was very obviously checking out Rosalie. The brunette scowled at him.

"Hey, sleaze. We're on a date here, so I'd appreciate it if you'd stop staring at her boobs," Bella said accusingly.

The poor waiter blushed and glared back at her, but turned his eyes to the decorations on the walls. "I'll have your food soon," he said before walking off in a huff.

"Thanks," said Rose.

"No problem. I hate guys like that."

_Like my brother? _The blonde wanted to say it out loud, but she kept it to herself. She decided to turn the conversation towards Bella. "Tell me about Phoenix."

"Well, I was living with Renee, so I had to grow up fast. She couldn't take care of a bag of flour, much less a child. I read a lot of books. I wasn't such a recluse, though. I had friends."

"And they were?" she asked, pushing Bella further.

"I hung out regularly with one group. We weren't the most popular kids, but we weren't totally outcasts either. There was Travis, Roxy, Agee, Grant, and Vera."

Rosalie visibly tensed at the last name.

"Travis and Grant were show choir kids. They were the gayest guys I've ever met in my life. Agee and Vera were on the swim team, and I'd known Roxy ever since I was little. Roxy knew Agee and Vera, who knew Travis and Grant, and so we all ended up together. I had a chance to kick back and relax with them. I didn't have to worry about Renee or myself. We did silly stuff. We stayed up late, went out to parties, and got drunk. Teenager stuff. We fooled around in and out of school." She paused for a moment to reflect. "I can remember when we went camping one summer and me and Travis got lost in the woods. We wandered around for at least an hour before Agee happened to find us. Travis was afraid that we were going to get eaten by bears or something. Then we stayed out at the lake past dark and Vera got scared by every little fish that swam by her in the water."

Bella laughed. Rosalie could tell that she had a good life before she came to Forks.

"One of the reasons that I came to Forks was that I would be moving away from them either way, so I'd rather go to a place I knew."

"You still keep in touch?"

The brunette looked down. "Not as much as I used to. All this life-threatening stuff kind of threw me off."

"You should go visit them sometime. It'd be good for you, especially if you still want to be changed."

"I wanted to, but I doubted that Edward would let me go. He's say that they were 'dangerous influences' and keep me from going."

"Well, you don't have to listen to him anymore."

"I might have to in the future…"

Rosalie's face fell.

"No, no! I mean… Dammit, Rose! This is all happening too fast. I'm not the best at making decisions. I thought I made up my mind, but… I feel… obligated?"

"Bella, he's a complete asshole! He's controlling and he's a jerk! Don't feel 'obligated' to go back to him because he doesn't love you!" Rosalie didn't realize that she was gesticulating wildly until she slammed her fists down on the table. The restaurant had become quiet and most of the patrons had turned their attention to the two women. Bella was looking at her with scared eyes. The vampire realized what she had done and she leaned back, sadness in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Bella. I just want what's best for you, and it's not him."

"I understand, I really do. I just…" Bella stuttered and shook her head. "I'm trying to forget him, but it's hard."

"Then remember me," said Rose. She reached out and put her hand on Bella's.

The brunette smiled softly. The waiter came back with their food and quickly gave it to them and left before he could be scolded again.

They continued to talk as Bella ate. Rosalie simply pushed the food around her plate in an attempt to make it look like she ate something. When they were done, Rosalie paid.

"Don't tip him," growled Bella. The blonde smiled and obliged. They left the restaurant without any further trouble.

**xXx**

That night, Bella was lying in bed, reading one of the books she had purchased the day before. She had finished "The Hobbit, or There and Back Again" already and had moved on to "The Fellowship of the Ring". They were long books, and sometimes tedious to read, but she enjoyed them all the same. They were a drastic change from her usual classic romance novels. The thrill of adventure and fantasy was more exciting than bland, realistic fictional romances.

Bella was just reading about Bilbo's vanishing act at his and Frodo's birthday party when she heard knocking at her window. At first, her thoughts flew to Edward, but then she remembered that he wasn't allowed to interfere during this week. She guessed that it was Rosalie. Her guess was confirmed when she stepped over to unlock it and found the blonde sitting on the sill outside smiling. She let her in.

"Welcome to my humble abode."

"How's your evening been?" the vampire asked.

"Reading," Bella responded, waving the book around. "I was about to go to sleep, actually."

"Should I leave?"

"Nonsense. You just got here. Make yourself comfortable."

Rosalie removed the military-style jacket she'd been wearing and slung it over the back of the rocking chair in the corner. She kicked off her shoes, leaving her barefoot in jeans and a white tank top. Bella herself was dressed down in a pair of basketball shorts and a loose t-shirt. The brunette laid her book down on the nightstand and sat down on the bed.

Rose climbed onto the bed beside her and wrapped her arms around the human girl, feeling the warmth from her body radiating out. Bella leaned into the vampire's cool arms, causing them both to fall backwards on the bed. She then used her feet to pull the covers up over the two of them and managed to turn around in Rosalie's arms so that they were face to face. They were less than an inch apart and grinning madly at each other. Bella planted a quick kiss on Rose's lips before pulling back and smiling at her again. The blonde took this opportunity to tickle the girl's sides. Bella laughed loudly and writhed around in her arms.

"That's unfair!" she said. "You're not ticklish!"

"All's fair in love and war, sweetheart." At that, Bella reached back and swung her pillow around, hitting Rose in the head with it. "Hey! Watch the hair!"

Somehow, Bella managed to end up straddling the blonde vampire, who was now sitting against the headboard of the bed. She leaned in towards Rose.

"Rosalie…" she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Are you my true mate?"

There was a moment of silence before Rosalie finally said "Yes."

However, before Bella could respond, footsteps were heard on the stairs and Rosalie vanished from underneath her and flew into the closet faster than the human eye could see. Bella did her best to look innocent and lonely. She picked the book back up and pretended to read.

The bedroom door flew open to reveal Charlie.

"Is someone up here?" he asked.

"Nope."

"I heard laughing."

"All me. Just laughing at the book," explained Bella.

The police chief glanced around the room, looking for signs of anything suspicious, and sighed. He shrugged and started to leave.

"Well, goodnight, Bella."

"G'night, dad."

Charlie closed the door on the way out. Bella listened as he descended the stairs, sat down in the recliner, and turned on the TV. Finally, Rosalie emerged from the closet.

"He shouldn't be back," said Bella. She put the book back on the nightstand and yawned. "Whew! I'm tired."

Rosalie sat down on the side of the bed.

"Will you stay with me?" Bella asked cautiously.

"I could never leave you alone," the blonde responded. "I'll be here when you wake up."

"Good."

Bella drifted off into sweet dreams as Rosalie watched calmly.

**xXx**

Bella happened to have one of those radio alarm clocks that woke a body up by switching to a set radio station. It was just Bella's luck that her favorite pop station was playing "I Kissed a Girl" this early in the morning. She groaned and hit the next preset button, and the radio immediately started blasting Tegan & Sara. One more click, and she found herself listening to Joan Jett's cover of "Crimson and Clover". Groaning, she finally gave up and let the music play.

"Your radio has gaydar," Rosalie observed, amused.

"It's too early for this," Bella groaned.

"You have school. Get up."

_Shit! I have school!_ Bella had completely forgotten that she had to go to school at least one more day after graduation. All seniors had to go on Monday, whether they liked it or not.

"Shiiiiiit."

She sunk down into the covers even more.

"Up and at 'em, babe," said Rosalie. "Or I'll drag you out."

Finally, she managed to struggled out of bed and downstairs. Charlie had left a note on the table.

_Bella,_

_There's some business going on at the station. I had to go into work early. I'll see you tonight._

_Love,_

_Dad_

The coast was clear, so Rosalie came downstairs as well. Bella feasted on frozen waffles and leftover biscuits before getting dressed in loose ripped jeans, a black, white, and red striped tank top (judging from how loose it was, Rosalie guessed that it was made for a guy), and flip flops.

"I can't go with you, but I want Edward to keep his distance. Here." Rose handed her the jacket that she had been wearing the night before. "It's covered in my scent, so he shouldn't bother you unless he has to."

"Thanks," said Bella, slipping it on. Since the two girls were the same size, it fit fine.

"I can ride over to the school with you," the blonde offered.

"Be my guest."

The vampire hopped into the passenger's seat of the rusty red Chevy and scowled. "I am buying you a better ride."

"Not until this thing croaks," said Bella, revving the engine.

"_Thing_ is right."

The ride to the school was short, much to Bella's dismay. Luckily, she didn't have to go for the rest of the week, unlike the lowerclassmen. She would be done with FHS after today. She parked her jalopy of a truck next to Alice's shiny yellow Porsche and Edward's Volvo; it was a drastic contrast, but ever since she started dating Edward, she'd always parked with the Cullens. The brunette shut off the noisy engine and looked at Rosalie.

"You sure you can't sneak in and disrupt my classes?"

"Sorry," said the vampire. "I'm supposed to be in college anyways, remember?"

"Ooh, I'm dating a college girl. How risqué!"

Rosalie cut off the rest of the human girl's complaints with a kiss. It lasted longer than she'd originally intended it too (mostly thanks to Bella). Finally, the brunette had to pull back for air.

"For good luck," said Rose.

"Good luck indeed! How are you getting home?"

"In my car!" said Alice, who was suddenly outside the truck. "I saw that you might need a ride home, so here!" She tossed the keys to Rosalie. "I'll take Bella from here, m'kay?"

"You keep him away from her," Rose warned.

"Will do!"

Rosalie hopped out of the truck and into the flashy sports car. She started the engine and began to pull out.

"Be safe, Bella!" she called out the window. "Love you!"

"Love you too!"

Bella waved as the Porsche drove out of the parking lot and disappeared down the road.

Above the parking lot, Edward stood alone. He watched the Porsche travel down the road towards home until it was out of sight. "Damn dyke," he growled. "Like hell I'll stay away from her."

The bell rang, and he turned and walked into the school.

* * *

**I apologize for the gap between updates! I wanted this to be up sooner, but we had testing all week and I didn't have very much time to write. Since I'm on break now, I have more time! Unless something happens, I hope to have at least one more chapter up over the break!**


	4. Chapter 3: Standing Up For Yourself

**Intervention**

**Chapter 3**

**Standing Up For Yourself**

"**It's ****bad manners to say I love you with a mouth full of lies..."**

Edward was expecting Bella to show up at school and act like she normally did. She would stick to Alice like glue and only talk to other humans when she had to. Maybe she would hold a conversation with Angela, her one good friend.

He got something totally different.

In first block, a big group of guys came up to her. They were all seniors who had been at the party on Friday.

"Hey, Bella?" the big jock in front said. "We saw you making out with Rosalie Hale on Friday night, and we want to congratulate you."

Bella obviously wasn't expecting that, but she let them continue.

"See, you accomplished something none of us could ever do. It's the kind of thing we dream about, y'know? So, if you ever need anything, you just ask us, alright?"

"Alright," she said, grinning. She gave the guys a fist bump and decided to hang out with them for the rest of the period.

In second period, she was approached by a few of the kids from the LGBT Support Club that had happened to be in the same class as her. She talked amiably with them for the whole class, even laughing and smiling. Edward was dumbfounded.

At lunch, she sat at the same table with Jessica and her followers. Alice was next to her already. Edward, who was purposefully late, approached the table and sat across from her.

"So, Bella, how was your weekend?"

"It was actually really awesome," she said through a mouthful of pizza. "And you?"

"It was okay. I see you're wearing Rosalie's jacket."

"Yep. It has the magical ability to ward off douchebags, but it seems to have stopped working."

Alice whispered an "Ooooooh, burn!" at such a low decibel that only Edward could hear. He scowled at his sister.

"Behave, you two," said the pixie. "I don't want you getting hurt, Edward."

Fed up, Edward loudly stood and exited the cafeteria.

"He's so pissed," said Bella. "It's actually really funny. Too bad I have to sit next to him next block."

In biology, it was like her first day all over again. Edward was inconceivably angry and spent the majority of the class glaring at her and breathing like some kind of dog. He was literally breathing so loud that it was all Bella could think about. She totally forgot about how angry he was and instead focused on his incredibly loud breathing. It was ridiculous. Finally, one of the kids in front of them spoke up.

"Cullen, will you stop breathing like a damn ape? It's really irritating!"

In some kind of animalistic defiance, he snorted once, like a bull getting ready to charge, and then he sunk down into his arms and laid his head on the desk. He exhaled loudly one last time and then stayed quiet for the rest of the period. Bella rolled her eyes at him and doodled all over a sheet of notebook paper until the bell rang.

In fourth block, the last period, Edward made his move. He approached Bella suddenly and out of nowhere. It was PE, and the class was simply sitting around outside doing nothing.

"You're _mine,_" he said darkly.

"I'm no one's, asshole. Step off."

"No. I had you first. You're mine. You're no one else's but mine."

"Fuck off! What's your problem? I'm not a piece of property!"

At this point, the other students were starting to pay more attention to the former couple.

"You filthy dyke!" he screeched. "You need to stay away from her. I'm the only one that's right for you."

"You lied to me! You never loved me!" she yelled back.

"You agreed to marry me!"

"Does it look like I'm wearing a ring?"

Edward, eyes black with fury, reached out and grabbed her collar, lifting her up off the ground. She squirmed in his grip, both hands on his arm, trying to wrestle out of his hands. "Let me go!" But he only held her higher, glaring at her. Bella beat on his arm with all her strength to no avail. The other students were starting to get alarmed.

"Hey, you put her down!" One of the guys from first block had come charging up to the situation. He was large and muscular, but he was no match for a vampire.

"How about no!" shouted Edward. There was venom in his voice, and the guy backed down out of fear. Everyone was frozen around the two. Bella struggled still against the redheaded vampire's iron grip.

"HEY!" The sound of a familiar voice reached both of their ears. Out of the woods above the school, Jacob, Embry, and Quil came running down. "PUT HER DOWN!"

Edward hissed, but he let Bella drop to the ground.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing, leech?" asked Jacob.

"Back off. She's mine."

"She's nobody's!" Jacob yelled back. "Not yours, not mine, not anyone's but her own!"

The two of them argued back and forth until veins started bulging out in Jacob's neck. His russet skin was turning red, and this whole thing was about to go south. Meanwhile, Bella had recovered and picked up a folding chair from one of the picnic tables.

Edward was so distracted that he never saw it coming.

She slammed the chair down on the top of the vampire's head with such force that it actually shocked him. It didn't do any damage, but he was so surprised that he fell to the ground.

"Fuck you!" she growled. "Leave me the hell alone!"

Bella stormed away from the fallen redhead, Jacob not far behind. The rest of the wolves had gone back into the woods.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine. He wouldn't hurt me; I'd be damaged goods."

"Bella, you're not a piece of property-"

"You think I need you to tell me that?" she said, whipping around to face him. "God, I'm sorry, Jake. I'm just tired of this."

"I am too, Bells."

He pulled her into a warm hug. She enjoyed the brief embrace because, for once, it was a friendly hug. Jacob wasn't trying anything. He was just being nice.

"Gosh, you reek of bloodsucker," said Jacob as he stepped back.

"It's Rose's jacket."

"Shoulda known. Are you and her… y'know?"

"I… I guess so. It's complicated," said Bella. She turned away from him to look down on the school.

"Don't tell me you still have feelings for him after all this," the shifter growled.

"I don't! I just… I don't know! He used to be so sweet and nice, but now…"

Jacob frowned at her. "You just hit him over the head with a chair and told him to stay away from you, and now you're pining for him? Are you bipolar? He's a sick, twisted guy, Bells. I'd rather you be with the blonde leech than him."

"I'm not pining for him! He's doing exactly what he said: he's drawing me in. For some reason, no matter how much I hate him, no matter how much I love Rose, there's some kind of twisted attraction for him in the bottom of my heart. He's poisoned me somehow, and I can't get him out."

"Sounds like some kind of fucked up Stockholm Syndrome."

"It is. I want to it stop, but I can't make it go away. He's like a puppeteer, pulling on the strings of my heart. I _hate _him."

When Bella finally looked at him again, Jacob was deep in thought. She stood still, watching him.

"I think it's because he bit you. Let me see your arm." Bella rolled up her sleeve and held up her right arm, where the scar from James was on her wrist. Edward had bit there as well, to suck the venom out. Jacob ran his fingers over the scar. It was cold to the touch. "This is like vampire skin."

"Really?"

Jacob pulled out a pocket knife. "Do you mind?"

"No," said Bella, shaking her head.

He carefully touched the knife to the skin just outside the scar. It drew blood. Then, he dragged the knife across the scar to the other side. All the skin around the scar was cut, but not the scar itself.

"He might have gotten the venom out, but his own venom left his mark on you, like a claim. This is why you feel so obligated to be with him; he's _part of you._"

Bella shivered as she looked down at the scar. "Can we do anything about it?"

"I don't think it can be totally fixed until you're bitten by someone else. Until then, I have a bit of a solution a graduation present for you."

"Jake! You know I hate gifts!" she exclaimed.

The shifter grinned. "Oh, you'll like these."

**xXx**

Jacob was driving Bella's truck across the reservation to a place she had never been before.

"Legend has it that during the days of Ephraim, a traveler from Japan came to La Push. With him, he brought a sword, a Japanese katana. Swords were foreign to the people at that time, so the tribe was very interested in it. As a token of his appreciation for letting him stay with the tribe, the Japanese man gave the sword to Ephraim. Ephraim then took the sword to the tribe shaman, who put several enchantments over the sword. It is said that Ephraim killed a legendary Wendigo with the blade. This gave the sword the power to slay vampires, and he called it Bonechiller. That's where the legend ends, and the truth begins." Jacob pulled the truck over at the base of a large hill. "Follow me."

They walked up ancient wooden steps that were embedded in the side of the hill. When they reached the top, they found themselves in a circle of totem stones, with one larger, more ornate stone at the far side of the circle.

"This is the burial ground of Ephraim Black," explained Jacob. He motioned to the large wolf carvings around the circle. "And _that _is Bonechiller."

Sitting in a small alcove in the large, ornate stone was a Japanese katana, the sheathe decorated in Quileute designs. Jacob carefully lifted it up off its pedestal and unsheathed it.

"There was a rhyme that parents used to tell their children about the sword. It went something like this," he said.

"_Bonechiller, Bonechiller_

_Wendigo awake_

_Take a man's head and put it on a stake_

_Flesheater, Flesheater_

_Wendigo dead_

_Walk in the night and watch where you tread_

_Bonechiller, Bonechiller_

_Wendigo arise_

_Cold Ones hunt, open up your eyes!"_

A cold silence filled the air on top of the hill. The forests around them suddenly seemed much more uninviting than they already did.

"It sounds cheesy, but it used to keep the kids from running in the woods alone."

"I can see why," said Bella. "It unnerved me, and I spend most of my time with vampires."

Jacob smiled and shook his head. "Your wrist?"

Bella pulled her sleeve back again. The cuts around the scar had already healed. She lifted her arm up for Jacob. He raised the blade up and slowly pressed it against the scar. It strung as it cut through the cold skin. He quickly pulled the sword out and sheathed it.

"The legends are true," he said simply. "So, as the rightful heir of Ephraim Black, and of this sword, I present it to you, Isabella Swan, as a gift. May Bonechiller keep you safe in your time of need. Or times, plural, because we know how you are."

With great care, Bella took the sword into her hands. She drew the blade out of the sheathe and swung it around a bit. It felt natural in her hands.

"Great. One vampire killing sword for me!"

"I'm not just giving this to you because of Victoria," he said. "If Edward tries to do anything to you ever again, you use this thing. I don't care if you look silly hauling around an old sword, you take this with you every time you go to their house. He's dangerous, Bella."

"I don't know if I could hurt him…"

"You're strong, Bella, I know you are."

Jacob smiled and clapped her on the shoulder. "C'mon, let's grab something to eat. After all this talk of flesh-eating monsters, I'm hungry!"

Bella laughed as they descended the ancient steps and drove off for dinner.

**xXx**

"Did he hurt you?"

The moment Bella stepped back inside her house, Rosalie was all over her, checking ever inch of the human's body for some kind of injury.

"I'm fine, Rose. He just shook me up a little, that's all."

"I'll kill him for this," she growled.

"Wait a minute, okay? Let's not do anything drastic. Besides, I found out some things today."

"You were with the dog," she said, sniffing Bella.

"His name is _Jacob,_" she said. "And he gave me something very important." She motioned to Bonechiller, which was sitting on her hip.

"What is that?"

"It's called Bonechiller. It's a vampire-killing sword." Bella cautiously drew the blade out.

"Psh. I bet," said Rose, scoffing.

"You wanna see?"

"Go ahead!" The blonde held out her arm.

Bella didn't really want to, but she did anyways. Very slowly, she pressed the sword into her mate's arm. It slid into the vampire's skin like a hot knife into butter.

"Take it out!" Rosalie yelled. Bella quickly yanked the sword away and put it back into its sheathe. Rose was breathing heavily. "I believe you now."

The small cut healed itself quickly.

"I had no idea that the Quileutes had anything like this."

"It was last used during the time of Ephraim Black. Jake said that he killed a Wendigo with it, and that gave it the power to kill vampires."

"There's no such thing as Wendigos!"

"Says the vampire!"

Rosalie smirked, defeated. "Alright, you got me, but I still doubt that there's anything out there like a Wendigo."

"Watch one try to kill me."

"You little danger magnet!" Rosalie was suddenly pressing Bella up against the wall of the foyer. She leaned in close and kissed her passionately. The brunette was a little bit mad that she hadn't made the first move, so she struggled a little bit underneath the vampire. It was no use, though, because Rose was simply too strong. Finally, Bella caught her off guard and pushed her arms down, then backed the blonde up against the other wall. The kiss was deep, deeper than any of the quick pecks Bella had been giving her for the past few days. This was on par with the make-out session from Friday night. Bella was really starting to get into it when the couple heard a car door slam outside.

In a flash, Rosalie was gone and Bella was left to fix herself. As Charlie began to walk towards the front door, Bella made her way upstairs as fast as possible. She threw the sword under her bed, discarded her shoes, and made it look like she had been at home, reading for the past few minutes.

"Bella! I'm home!"

"Welcome back, dad!" she called back.

Her phone buzzed, showing a text from Rose.

_I'll be back later tonight. Love you._

Bella quickly shot back a response that said "Love you too" before returning to the book she'd picked up in her scramble. Middle-Earth was waiting.

**xXx**

"Carlisle," Rosalie said the moment she walked into his office. He looked up from his work.

"Yes?"

"Bella got a little present from Jacob. A sword. Ever heard of Bonechiller?"

Carlisle became immediately serious. "Yes, I have. Legends say that Ephraim Black used it to kill a Wendigo-"

"What is it with Wendigos? I didn't even know that they were a Quileute thing! They're not really real, are they?" she suddenly burst out.

"They used to be. I saw one myself, actually. They are grotesque creatures that feast on human flesh. The Quileute tribe has an old rhyme about them, us, and Bonechiller," he said. Carlisle calmly recited the same rhyme that Jacob recited to Bella hours before. "The Quileutes fear the Wendigos almost as much as they do us. Wendigos, however, are more mortal than us. Any human with the strength to do it could kill one. The one Ephraim hunted, though, was special. It had consumed more flesh than any other Wendigo before it. It was massive and disgusting, and it sought to destroy the whole tribe. I happened to be around to see it once. Luckily, Ephraim killed it with that sword, which gave it the magic to kill vampires. And now our dear Bella has it…"

"Before I tell you what else happened today, how does a Wendigo come to be?" Curiosity was plaguing her now.

"They are humans who develop a craving for flesh and blood. Nowadays, they are far and few between; the transformation only occurs in one out of ten cannibals. Magic doesn't flow over this Earth like it used to."

"I see," said Rosalie. "Now, the other thing: Edward got into an argument with Bella at school. She wasn't hurt, but he did pick her up and mess with her pretty badly. Jacob Black came along with some of the other wolves and stopped it from going any further. I heard that she hit Edward with a chair."

Carlisle chuckled a little. "That sounds like Bella. I'll talk to him tonight. He can't keep doing this."

"Thank you, Carlisle." Rosalie turned and began to walk out of the office.

"Wait!" he called. The blonde stopped and turned to face him. "I wasn't going to tell you, but I might as well. There are two others ways for a Wendigo to be created."

"And they are?"

"A vampire who goes insane and gorges himself on not only blood but flesh as well can turn into a Wendigo. It has happened on a few occasions. They lose their immortality, but they are still very strong. That was the type of Wendigo that Ephraim killed. The other way is much slower and very rare. If a human has a trace of vampire venom left in their system, it can corrupt their mind and eventually turn them into a Wendigo that only has loyalty to the vampire that bit them."

Rosalie had a sinking feeling in the bottom of her stomach, but she didn't know why.

* * *

**I don't like putting ANs on my stories much, but I have two things to address.**

**I realize that Wendigos aren't associated with Quileute culture. However, neither are shape-shifting wolves. If Stephenie Meyer can take creative liberties with the Quileutes, so can I. It's not even that far of a stretch; the Wendigo is often associated with Native American tribes anyways. I just took it to the northwest.**

**I had a reviewer ask why vampire would care about sexuality if they can't reproduce. Simply put, most of them don't. Not even Carlisle, an ex-priest, cares. The only reason you'll see Edward use homophobic slurs throughout the story is because he's upset with the fact that he's losing Bella to a woman.**


	5. Chapter 4: Making Yourself Happy

**Intervention**

**Chapter 4**

**Making Yourself Happy**

"**Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own."**

After her chat with Carlisle, Rosalie began to make her way downstairs and out of the house. She was thwarted by Edward, who was standing outside in the front yard.

"Hello, _freak_," he said icily.

"Look who's talking."

The redhead narrowed his eyes as she walked past him, not a care in the world. She broke off into a run, and he began to follow her. Irritated, Rosalie whirled around mid-sprint and punched him. Not expecting the hit, he flew backwards and crashed into a tall pine tree. It shuddered under the force of the collision. Edward hit the ground and forced himself back into a standing position.

"Edward, I never expected this from you."

"I could say the same!" he spat.

"We're just arguing in circles! This is your entire fault to begin with!" she screamed.

He charged and collided with her before she could move. She was thrown back into a tree which snapped when she hit it. She picked up the part that was broken off and launched it at her brother like a javelin. He merely punched the end of it, causing it to shatter into millions of splinters. While he was distracted by the tree, Rosalie tackled him to the ground and wrestled with him. Desperate, she bit his shoulder through his shirt. Edward howled in pain. The blonde vampire took that as an opportunity to escape. She flitted away from the battlefield, leaving him writhing in pain on the forest floor.

Bella's window was open, and she launched herself from the ground into the room effortlessly. Bella immediately jumped up from the bed, seeing the disheveled state that Rosalie was in.

"Oh my god! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Despite all his efforts, Edward had done much to Rosalie. She was just a little messy and shaken up from the blows exchanged.

"You don't look fine."

"I'm _okay_, Bella."

"Did Edward do this?"

"Yes."

Bella scowled and sat down on the bed, mumbling something about getting back at him for causing all this trouble. Rosalie, after brushing off all the dirt from the fight, sat down beside her.

"I'm starting to really not like this, Rose."

"I know."

The main reason that Bella was upset was because Rosalie was upset. She didn't want to see her reason for living so unhappy. The entire situation that had brought them together was hell on both of them right now.

Suddenly, Rosalie stood up.

"Someone's been in here."

"What?" Bella asked, confused.

"Another vampire. It's an unfamiliar scent." The blonde quickly pulled out her phone and dialed Alice. They talked quickly, so fast that Bella didn't understand anything. When she finally ended the call, Rose turned to look at the brunette. "Alice hasn't seen anything, but it has to be someone with Victoria."

"But Laurent and James are both dead," interjected Bella.

"Then she found someone else. We have to double up on security around here," she said commandingly. "You keep Bonechiller with you as much as possible. I've gotta go home and tell the rest of the family about this. I'll call you if anything important happens, alright?"

"Alright," Bella responded, slightly disappointed that Rose wouldn't be staying with her.

"I'll be back as fast as I can."

They shared a quick kiss before the blonde vampire disappeared into the night.

Just the slightest bit fearful, Bella pulled Bonechiller out from under her bed and slept with it under the covers, her hand on the hilt.

**xXx**

Bella slept lightly that night.

In the early morning, a noise woke her. She heard someone moving around in the room. Patient, she waited for them to get just close enough before flying out from under the sheets, Bonechiller drawn and in her right hand.

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T HURT ME!"

It was just Emmett.

Bella sighed and lowered the sword. "Emmett, don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry! Rosalie would be here, but she hasn't fed in a while, so she's out hunting with Esme. She'll be back soon."

Emmett sat down in the rocking chair by the window. Bella suddenly realized something.

"Emmett! Oh my god! You and Rose-"

"-are okay. We knew we weren't true mates. I'm happy that she found hers," he said calmly. "I was waiting for you to say something like that. Anyways, we have an agreement. So, have you two… y'know… yet?"

"Christ, Em, no! Get your mind out of the gutter." She lobbed a pillow in his direction.

_So Victoria's hot on my tail… I guess the best thing for me to do would be to get the hell outta Dodge. _Bella scrolled through the contacts on her phone. _Wait! Roxy! _She quickly pressed the call button and shushed Emmett.

"Roxy? Hey! Listen, do you think it would be cool if I came down to visit?"

**xXx**

"Are you sure about this, Bella?" Rosalie asked one last time.

"As much as I don't want to be away from you, I think it'd be a bit safer. It would throw her off, at least. I'll be back on Thursday, alright? It's not that long." Bella smiled sadly at her mate. "Before I go, though, I want to finalize something."

"And that would be?" The vampire raised an eyebrow.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Of course," Rosalie answered.

They kissed; it was a simply, loving kiss, nothing too deep or sensual. When it was over, Bella pulled off her hoodie and handed it to the blonde.

"Something to remember me by," she said. "Besides, I still have your jacket. And it still smells like you." Rosalie put the hoodie on. It was pretty big on her, but it had been big on Bella anyways. "It looks like it's going to eat you," Bell laughed.

"I'm being swallowed by the horizontally striped black void!" she gasped in fake shock.

"Someone, help!" cried Bella. "My girlfriend's being eaten by a jacket!"

Jasper, who happened to be walking by the silly couple, pulled the hood up over Rose's head.

"Oh no! I can't see! It's blinded me!" Rosalie waved her arms around in false distress.

Carlisle walked by and yanked the hood down. Rose gasped. "I'm saved! Thank you, kind sir!"

"Alright, alright. That's enough, girls. Bella has a plane to catch," the father figure said.

"A _private _plane!" Emmett interjected. "The family jet! God, we are so rich."

"Have fun, baby," said Rosalie. "Don't miss me too much. Actually, I take that back; miss me a lot."

"I will miss you so hard."

They hugged one last time before Bella boarded the private jet, Bonechiller on her hip, to head off to Phoenix.

**xXx**

"Bella!"

Upon arriving at one of Phoenix's many Starbucks, she was tackled by five wild teenagers.

"Hey, guys! Long time no see!"

"_That's_ an understatement!" said Travis.

"I'm sorry I fell off the planet, guys. I got wrapped up in Forks."

"No you didn't," Agee accused. "That place is boring as shit. You met someone."

"Well, there is this girl…"

Travis and Agee high-fived. "We knew it!"

"What?" Bella asked, confused.

"You are so gay!" Travis almost yelled.

"Keep it down, man!" said Grant. "This is Starbucks!"

"Whatever. Anyways, I always knew you were totally homo, Bella."

"I didn't," the brunette responded.

"Tell us about this mystery girl," said Vera, leaning in closer.

"Well, it's like this…"

**xXx**

"Wait, let me get this straight: you're dating your ex-boyfriend's sister?"

"That sounds about right," said Bella.

Bella's explanation had taken so long that they had actually left Starbucks in the middle of it and drove back to Travis and Agee's apartment. They were now sitting around in the living room, eating and drinking.

"Well, it's no surprise to me," said Travis. "You've always been a flaming dyke."

"Excuse me?"

"Bella, you can't tell me you're not doing _this _on purpose." Travis motioned to what Bella was wearing: a wife-beater, loose, ripped jeans, Vans, and Rosalie's jacket. "If you were any gayer you'd be Kristen Stewart."

"It's not that obvious, is it?"

"You're wearing _boxers_, hon," said Grant. "Yes, we see them. Pull your pants up."

Bella shifted around and tugged on the waistband of her jeans.

"Let's see this girl," Roxy demanded.

The brunette pulled out her phone and scrolled through the pictures until she found a decent one of herself and Rose. She held it up for the group to see.

"Oh. My. God. Bella, how did you score this woman?" Agee asked incredulously.

"Let me see her brother!" exclaimed Grant.

Bella's brow furrowed. "Are you guys saying that I'm ugly?"

"No! But this chick is beyond gorgeous!" Roxy and Agee snatched the phone out of Bella's hand and started to flip through the rest of the pictures. "God, Bella, how much did you pay her? Is this photoshopped?"

Irritated, she took her phone back and brought up Skype. "I will call her, okay? She's a real person."

Luckily, Rose happened to be online. Bella pressed call, and it rang for a second. She could almost feel her friends radiating doubt behind her. Finally, the she answered. The video feed loaded, and there was Rosalie.

"_Miss me that much, baby?"_

"My friends don't believe that you're a real person," Bella explained, scowling. "And they think that I'm ugly."

"No one ever said that!" Travis exclaimed defensively.

Rosalie laughed quietly, and even over the computer it was music to Bella's ears. _"Well, I am real, and I'm actually her girlfriend-"_

"_**Much to Eddie's dismay!" **_Emmett called from the background.

"Is he around?"

"_He's cooped up in his room playing loud music. Carlisle's tried to talk to him several times, but he won't come out."_

"Sounds like he's throwing a temper tantrum," said Agee.

Rosalie smirked. _"He does that when he doesn't get what he wants."_

"Dear god, Bella, what did you get yourself into?" Vera joked. "This guy sounds possessive."

"_**Much more than that!" **_This time, the background voice was Alice. _**"He's the world's biggest toddler."**_

"_**I CAN HEAR YOU!" **_Edward screeched.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. _"I'm gonna go. You can call me on my phone later if you want. Have fun, baby. We miss you."_

"I miss you guys too," said Bella. "Love you."

"_Love you too, baby. Bye."_

The call ended.

Bella turned around to face the rest of the gang. "Are you convinced?"

"Yes," said Travis. "Sorry we doubted you."

She flicked him on the nose, eliciting an "Ouch!" The boy's hands flew to his nose.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired. I'mma grab some Zs."

"Good plan! That way we can wake up bright and early tomorrow and egg someone's house!"

"Agee!"

"What? You guys are no fun!"

**xXx**

Bella woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. Her wrist was throbbing with pain. She stumbled out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where she ran hot water over her scar. It eased the cold burn a little bit, but now she was hungry.

She stumbled over to the fridge and fumbled through the meat drawer before pulling out some leftover ham from dinner. She wolfed it down and grabbed a few slices of bologna and pepperoni before she shuffled back into bed. It wasn't enough to satiate her, though.

Bella went to sleep with a growling stomach.

**xXx**

The next day flew by. Bella enjoyed spending time with her old friends; it was a nice break from the constant vampire warfare in Forks. That night, however, Roxy found Bonechiller.

"Woah! What's this?"

"That's my sword," Bella said calmly.

"You have a sword?"

"Bella has a sword?" Grant had suddenly entered the room. "Guys, Bella has a sword!"

They were all seated in the living room, ready for story time.

"This," Bella said. "is Bonechiller. It was a gift from my old friend Jacob."

"The Indian guy?"

"Yes, the 'Indian guy'. It belonged to one of his ancestors, Ephraim Black. It's called Bonechiller." Bella proceeded to tell the tale of Ephraim and the Wendigo. She left out the bit about vampires, though; she didn't want to delve into that story tonight.

"I never knew that there were Wendigo legends in Washington," Vera thought aloud.

"There are Wendigo legends _everywhere_, Vera," Grant said mockingly. "Around here too. Agee would know."

Agee was half Navajo.

"Well, there are the skin-walkers. They sort of go along with Wendigo legends. It's more of a northern creature, though."

"There's this creepy rhyme that Jacob taught me too." She paused for a moment, trying to remember it. Then, Bella cleared her throat and began.

"_Bonechiller, Bonechiller_

_Wendigo awake_

_Take a man's head and put it on a stake_

_Flesheater, Flesheater_

_Wendigo dead_

_Walk in the night and watch where you tread_

_Bonechiller, Bonechiller_

_Wendigo arise_

_Cold Ones hunt, open up your eyes!"_

They were silent for a moment. Then, they burst into laughter. Bella chuckled a little too. "It sounds silly here, but when you're standing in the middle of the forest up there, it'll creep you out."

"Is 'Cold One' another name for the Wendigo?" Travis asked.

"No, it's a whole other creature," Bella said as vaguely as possible.

"What is it?" asked Roxy, pressing further.

Although Bella wanted to say as little as possible, she couldn't duck out now. They would know that something was up. "They're vampires."

"What does that have to do with this sword, then?"

"Because Ephraim killed the Wendigo with it, this sword can kill vampires."

Grant laughed. "That's just silly! There's no such thing as Wendigos or vampires!"

_If only you knew…_

**xXx**

Thursday came sooner than Bella wanted it to. She bid her friends farewell in the early morning. It was an emotional goodbye; Bella would likely never see them again. After she became a vampire she'd never be able to see them again. She wouldn't age like them, and she couldn't come to Phoenix again anyways because of the sun.

As she hugged each of them goodbye, she held in the tears.

The flight back to Forks wasn't long, but it seemed to drag on forever. She spent her time looking through the pictures on her phone.

The moment she stepped off the plane, Rosalie was there. She ran into the vampire's arms and hugged her tightly.

"I missed you so much!" the brunette squealed.

"I can tell by how lovingly you've placed your face in my boobs," Rosalie purred.

Bella drew back, blushing, as Rosalie giggled softly. "So any word on Victoria?" she asked in an effort to draw attention away from her mishap.

"She's been back and forth, but they're going to make their move tomorrow; Alice saw. She's got an army of newborns. We're giving the wolves a few tips on fighting them today. After we drop off your stuff, you're headed into the woods with us."

**xXx**

Deep in the forests of the Olympic Peninsula, things exist that no man could ever dream of, even in nightmares. Though the magic that was once abundant on Earth has long since dwindled, in these forests it is kept alive, for better or worse. The Quileutes harnessed it in the days of old, but those techniques are fading. The other humans experienced strange happenings. Tales of monsters haunting the woods kept the average Joe from wandering off on his own. Nowadays, though such legends are less in number, the people of Forks still stay out of the woods; unnatural, ungodly things happen in there that no one wants to see.

It was because of this magical air about the town that the Cullen called Forks home. As vampires, they came from an old magic, and it was welcoming to be in an area so heavily influenced by it, no matter the horrors that it produced.

Bella had always thought that the woods felt otherworldly. She was right, in a way.

"Alright!" Jasper yelled commandingly. "Listen up! Newborn vampires are a whole other ball game. Though they're less skilled and prone to making rash decisions, they're much stronger than the average vampire due to the human blood left over in their bodies. If one get's hold of you, it ain't letting go." He narrowed his eyes for dramatic effect. "The best way to deal with them is to assume that they'll take the most obvious plan of attack. They won't pull any tricks or feints because they're too dumb for that. They're killing machines."

Bella was standing by Rosalie, listening intently to Jasper's battle sermon and occasionally glancing at the line of horse-sized wolves at the edge of the clearing. "How does he know all this?"

"Jasper fought in the Southern Vampire Wars where newborn warfare was common. I'm sure he'll tell you more about it later," Rose explained. "He was a Confederate Major before he was changed."

"Oh."

"Emmett! Get over here!" The burly vampire appeared beside Jasper in a flash. "Emmett here is going to demonstrate the average plan of attack for a newborn. It's normally a full on frontal assault, everything all at once."

Jasper and Emmett went to opposite sides of the clearing. Jasper waved his hand, telling Emmett to bring it. The black-haired immortal charged at his brother, throwing caution to the wind. Jasper easily leapt over him and knocked him to the ground. Emmett got a face full of dirt.

"So, that's pretty much it. We're going to have a few more sparring bouts; you can stay and watch if you'd like."

The Cullens took turns going at each other. The speed and fluidity of their movements entranced Bella. They were all amazing combatants, and every one of them had their own fighting style. Alice's was almost comparable to dancing. Emmett's was based largely on his size. Jasper's was a display of skill and trickery. Carlisle was very quick and tried to dispatch his opponent as fast as possible, as did Esme. Rosalie's was sly and cunning; she employed a lot of feints that even managed to trip up Alice and Edward. Edward himself relied heavily on his speed, but he made every hit count.

Finally, Bella got fed up with watching them have all the fun. "My turn," she said, drawing Bonechiller. "I want to see if I can actually hit one of you." Jacob whined in protest, pawing at the ground, but the human girl ignored his pleas. "C'mon, Edward. Let's settle this like men."

The redhead growled, but turned to face her anyways. "I'll go easy on you."

"I was about to say the same," she said cockily.

"Bella, don't do this!" Rosalie warned.

The brunette completed ignored her. "You chicken, boy?"

That was the final straw for Edward. He surged forward.

Normally, he would have disappeared into a blur, but Bella had gotten good at following them when they were moving at high speeds. Everything seemed to slow down for her. She slowed her breathing and steadied herself. Edward was making a mistake; he couldn't read her mind, so he had no idea what she was planning.

He was closer now, almost in range. She spun the sword around and held it out at just the right angle.

It passed through his left shoulder like it was wet tissue paper. Edward's left arm hit the ground with a thud, and he skidded to a stop. "Wha… Wha… WHAT THE?" He frantically groped the stump where his arm should have been. "WHAT THE FUCK?"

He was so frantically shocked that Bella actually laughed.

"Oh, pick it up and put it back on, loverboy," said Rose.

Edward merely growled at the two of them and retrieved his arm before sulking off into the forest.

Jacob, in wolf form like the rest of the pack, sauntered over and barked after the moody redhead. The call had a mocking tone to it, as if Jacob was saying "Hey, you're running away from a girl? What a chicken!" He probably was in his mind.

"Don't scare me like that again." Rosalie wrapped her arms around Bella, and the sword-wielding girl eventually melted into the worried vampire's arms.

**xXx**

"Man, I'm hungry! Let's milk this joint for everything they have!"

The Cullens and the pack (minus Edward) had descended upon the local diner in an effort to seal the deal on their uneasy alliance. Carlisle had offered to pay for everything and the wolves, being large suckers for free food, accepted his offer. They were seated in the back at a large table.

Carlisle himself was not eating (ditto for the rest of his family), but he was intently observing Bella. He knew that she had upped her intake of carbohydrates and protein while Edward had been gone due to her rigorous workout schedule, but she was still consumed a peculiar amount of meat. Even stranger was the fact that she had taken to ordering her steaks raw. It could be that she was just _really_ hungry, but something else was worrying him. The doctor hoped, however, that it was not what he thought it was, because if it was, he had absolutely no idea of what to do.

* * *

**Want more Rosella? Check out my new Twilight/Pitch Perfect crossover, Legato!**


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